The East Aegean Greek Island of Lesvos, which has a become a centre for migrants and refugees seeking to enter Europe, has gotten a significant breather in the past two days.
Between Monday and Tuesday evening 10,000 migrants and refugees had left the island’s port of Mitilini for the port of Piraeus. Another 3,200 are scheduled to depart by Wednesday evening.
Although the exact number of people that have arrived and are still in Lesvos is unknown, 17,500 migrants and refugees, 3,500 of which are children, have been registered on the island since Monday morning. Lesvos mayor Spiros Galanis claimed that the island had around 30,000 refugees and migrants before the 10,000 departures.
Meanwhile, a team from the Greek General Secretariat of Trade and Consumer Protection is heading to Lesvos in response to the Greek Public Inspector’s allegations that migrants and refugees are victims of illegal profiteering by people on the island.
Elaionas Reception Centre
According to Greek Forum of Refugees, the Elaionas Reception Centre close to central Athens has hosted 3,000 people since its opening on August 16th through September 9th.
The forum notes, that in Elaionas, which can host 700 people at the same time, migrants and refugees stay anywhere from two or three days but up to five or six days. A staggering 90% are Afghans, while the remaining 10% consists of Syrians, Iraqis, and Somalians.
“The Greek Forum of Refugees believes that the operation of the Eleonas Center is a great change concerning the refugee issue as it has not been addressed in Greece till now,” the forum writes. “We are glad that for the first time we see the effective cooperation between the authorities and the refugee communities. We believe and emphasise that refugee and migrant communities can always have an important role in all processes regarding refugee and migrant issues.”
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